Archive for 2015
Where The Rubber Literally Hits The Road
Take a look at your average sized postcard. Not very big, is it? Now imagine four of them at the corners of something measuring about 3 × 2 metres or so. They don’t take up much of that space. However, in the typical car, this is the sort of area your tyres take up when they actually contact the road: roughly the size of a postcard. Of course, a fatter tyre will have more surface area contacting the ground – they don’t just look good.
Those of you who fell asleep in high school science class when they talked about friction had better wake up and pay attention now. Everything to do with staying safe on the road is to do with friction. Inside an engine or a car, friction is bad news. It makes an engine less efficient and wears things out more quickly – which is why you need to keep up the fluids and why you should check your oil regularly. However, you need friction and lots of it with your wheels to help your tyres grip the road and to help your brakes stop the wheels spinning.
It’s not all that smart to head out onto the road to get an idea of how lack of friction and low grip affects your turning ability. So try a simple experiment on a piece of smooth, freshly polished floor – a school corridor or a big kitchen will do. Set up a slalom course with lots of sharp twists and turns. Also include a track segment where you have to run full speed, then stop sharply. First of all, simulate ordinary conditions with good tyres by running this course wearing sneakers with lots of tread. Not too hard, is it? Next, have a go at simulating the effect of tyres with little or no tread: take your shoes off and do it in your socks. Sue yourself for damages if you fall over or crash into a wall. Lastly, pour water all over the floor and try again, either with the sneakers or without the sneakers. You can probably think of some other simulations to try, such as running the course in high heels (space saver tyres), pouring oil over the floor, having one shoe with tread and one without tread, etc. However, somebody’s probably going to complain about what you’re doing to the floor at this point. But you get the picture.
The point of this crazy exercise is to demonstrate that if your tyres are worn or if the road is wet, you are going to lose control or not stop in time when braking. Your car might have all the safety devices in the world – traction control, EBD, lane change warnings, collision avoidance systems, rollover protection and all the rest of it – but if you’ve forgotten to check your tyre tread, all these extra bits won’t do an awful lot.
There are four golden rules to making sure that your tyres stay on the road, gripping nicely during all the manoeuvres you put it through (heck, you bought a Porsche 911 because it was fun to drive around corners, didn’t you?):
- Check your tread depth. The grooves should be no less than 2 mm deep. A lot of tyre shops have little cards you can use to check tread depth, but you can also make your own by playing around with a ruler, a vivid pen and a tag off a packet of sliced bread. Do this regularly – it’s all too easy to forget to do it, but you should schedule it in. Maybe monthly?
- Make sure that your tyres have the correct pressure. Each car has its own preferred pressure. You’ll find this helpfully stamped somewhere around the car – under the fuel flap, on a plate in the driver’s door or in the vehicle handbook. This may need to be adjusted if you’re doing a lot of towing or have a heavy load to carry (or if you do a lot of high speeds – but if you’re a racing driver, you’ll have a crew that helps you in this department). Don’t guess – use a proper gauge. A lot of air pumps have good gauges on the hose thingummy.
- Rotate your tyres regularly. Different tyres wear at different speeds depending on your drivetrain, your suspension and where the loads are in your car. Rotating means that your tyres wear out more or less evenly and the ones that really do a lot of work will have plenty of tread. They day that every 10,000 kms is a good schedule for rotating tyres. Exactly how you rotate your tyres will depend (again) on your drivetrain and whether or not your spare tyre is a space-saver or a full-sized one.
- Keep up the wheel alignments – twice a year is recommended. This also helps the tyres to wear evenly, so you know that if you’ve got 2 mm on one part of the tyre, it’s going to be like that on all the other parts of the tyre, too.
Tyres are not something I’m ever going to neglect. Not since the time I was in a crash that happened because the car lost traction thanks to bald tyres. The driver wasn’t hurt and neither was I, but the car was written off. You don’t forget a lesson like that in a hurry.
Safe and happy driving,
Megan
BTCC Profiles from the Past: Patrick 'Perseverance' Watts
Patrick Watts and the Peugeot. Image Credit: btccrazy.co.uk
Perseverance – Noun
persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success
The British Touring Car Championship is often remembered through its champions, its glorious victories and those heroic comebacks. However, there has always been more to the BTCC than just the winners. Something that has always made the championship so special is the combination of characters that comprise the field each year. Patrick Watts was always one of those characters, competing in the BTCC between 1992 and 1997. He also made a spectacular return to the BTCC Masters Race in 2004, and continues to compete in the HSCC Super Touring Trophy. He may not have ever had any championship success, but without Mr Watts the BTCC would not have been the same. The personification of perseverance could only ever be Patrick.
Patrick Watts flirted with the BTCC in the 1980s when he made numerous appearances in cars spanning the different classes (with the exception of Class A); his best performance came in 1984 when he competed in a few races in an MG Metro Turbo (Class B), finishing as high as 6th at Silverstone. It was only in 1992 when Watts decided enough was enough and it was time to tackle the BTCC head on. Back in 1992, the championship was in its infant years of the 2.0 litre Super Touring regulations and as such many drivers, teams and manufacturers were still finding their feet. So when Patrick Watts entered with a Mazda 323, no one really battered an eyelid.
As any lifelong fan of the BTCC, watching back the old season reviews is a must, even if only to relive just how truly great the 90s were for touring car racing. Personally speaking, 1992 has always been one of my favourite years to watch due in the most part to the non-stop action from the get-go. As a result of this, the poetic narration of Murray Walker will forever remain in my head; from my recollections Patrick Watts was never often spoken of too highly. The combination of ‘Patrick Watts’ and ‘gravel’ spring to mind. Looking over his 1992 statistics, Watts failed to finish 50% of the races, with a highest finish of only 11th. In his defence however, it was the first year in the championship for Mazda and they were running an under developed car that was almost consistently running off the pace.
A true hero of BTCC. Image Credit: Peter Still
As 1993 rolled around, Watts and Mazda refused to see a repeat of the previous season. Not only did they develop a Mazda Xedos 6 into a competitive car, but they adorned it with a striking livery just to announce to the world that they were there and they meant business. There was however one problem. When it comes to touring car racing, a graph could be drawn charting driver aggression and grid position. Funnily enough, the further up the order you go, the more you experience the wrath of the aggressive driver. 1993 was therefore an equally disappointing year for Watts, although unlike the previous year he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He may not have finished 7 of the 17 races, but he did achieve three 4th place finishes and numerous front row starts. His bad luck was most apparent at the famous Snetterton race where the entire field appeared to crash in the opening seconds; Watts was one of the few cars that got a clean start but lost control in the first corner and ruined his car. Such hope, such opportunity, lost.
Distinctive livery just makes for an easy target. Image Credit: en.mazda-club.eu
The end of 1993 also ended the partnership between Watts and Mazda; Mazda would not continue as a works entry in the BTC apart from a semi-works outfit that competed in half the 1994 season. From 1994 to 1997, Patrick Watts joined the Peugeot team which is how I will always remember him. 1994 saw the ever persistent Patrick finally manage a competitive season, finishing 8th in the overall standings. In 21 races, he would only retire 3 times, would in the majority of cases finish easily within the top 10 and he even achieved two podiums at Brands Hatch. In addition to this impressive year, something happened in 1994 that would cement his place in the touring car history books. In a time before Plato, it was Patrick Watts that quite clearly would go on to like Shaggy. The phrase ‘It Wasn’t Me’ was one uttered by the bespectacled gentleman on numerous occasions. The most famous occasion was at Brands Hatch where approaching Druids, Watts had a certain Paul Radisich in the Ford in front of him, and appeared to push him out the way and into the gravel. Watts however denied the whole thing and argued that he did not push. This continued until the end of his BTCC career at the end of the 1997 season.
Sadly, the relative successes of 1994 were to become a mere candle in the wind. As Peugeot Sport became Total Team Peugeot in 1995 and 1996, Watts would return to his old ways once more. He did however manage a 2nd place at Snetterton and a 3rd at Thruxton in 1995. It would be a fair statement to say “the less said about 1996 the better”. In a season of 26 races, Patrick Watts would only cross the finish line on 10 occasions. So that is a grand total of 16 races he did not finish. His best result was an 8th place at Brands Hatch. Therefore it did not come as much of a surprise that Total left Peugeot as a title sponsor at the end of the year.
Apart from his stand out ’94 season, Patrick struggled with the Peugeot team. Image Credit: supertouringregister.com
The 1997 season was the first year of the Esso Ultron team, and who better to spearhead the campaign than Patrick Peugout Watts. Unfortunately, unlike in 1993 where a striking new livery brought improvement, 1997 was sadly nothing to write home about for Patrick. He would finish the year in 16th place with only 26 points to his name. This goes some way to explain why this would turn out to be his final season in the BTCC. The saddest part was that in Germany the same car was an all conquering winning machine, but the British team were wrought with financial woes and internal struggles. The following year would see Watts replaced by former Ford driver Paul Radisich, who arguably struggled even worse than Watts. Peugeot were never really cut out for the BTCC. Poor, poor Patrick.
What I have always loved about Patrick Watts (as you may have guessed by now) is his passionate determination in the face of adversity. In 1999, he decided that he was not yet done with the Peugeot 406, and entered the opening rounds of the Australian Super Touring Championship. And finally, after years of trying everything paid off; he got himself two 2nd places and one victory. It is just a shame that he did not enter the full season; his pace was so competitive that he could have challenged for the title.
At the final meeting of the 2004 BTCC season, the championship hosted a ‘Masters’ event that brought back the big names from the British championship from the last 20 years or so. It was only fair that Patrick got himself a drive, it just wouldn’t be the same without him. In an almost classic-Watts style, he would finish the race classified as DNF, after a collision with modern ‘It Wasn’t Me’, Jason Plato. Typically neither would except blame for the collision. After all, it wasn’t them.
The 2004 BTCC Masters is definitely worth a watch! Image Credit: btccpages.com
The magic that makes the BTCC so special can be defined only as vibrant variety; a combustibly wonderful combination of characters, teams and drivers that contribute to the championship we all know and love. The world of BTCC would not be the same if it was not for Patrick Watts, who is the true embodiment of determination. He may never have got the success he deserved, but he fought on gallantly doing what he clearly loves. His success in 1999 is proof that perseverance does pay; through hard work and determination, anything is possible. Well, maybe not a touring car championship, but all in good time. I did always feel sorry for Patrick Watts; he had everything that a champion needed yet luck was never quite on his side. He would always be in the wrong place at the wrong time, often getting caught in the aftershock of collisions.
If everything I had said so far was it, then that would be enough. But the final cherry atop the icing of the beautiful cake that is Patrick Watts is the fact that in the last few years he has brought his 90s dream to fruition. He has entered his Peugeot 406 from BTCC days into the HSCC Super Touring Trophy and has been achieving notable successes against the likes of historic foes such as John Cleland. The development of his car has led to him finally becoming ‘THE man to beat’ in the historic field.
Patrick Watts: the man, the legend, the perseverance.
May you continue your legendary chapter in the eternal history books of the BTCC.
Finally, 2014 saw the Peugeot 406 dominating the ex-BTCC field. Image Credit: motorsportvision.co.uk
Follow me on Twitter for all the latest Touring Car updates, news and views! @lewisglynn69
Keep Driving People
Peace and Love!
Seven Year Itch: Mitsubishi Lancer XLS Sedan.
The Lancer nameplate has been around, under both Chrysler’s and Mitsubishi’s wardship, for over forty years; the current model was released in Australia in late 2007 and judging by Mitsubishi’s cycle for the car, it’s looking like an update isn’t (hopefully) far off. A Wheel Thing goes one on one with the (current) top of the range XLS sedan with CVT and petrol engine.
Powersource.
Take a 2.4L normally aspirated four cylinder, petrol powered engine, bolt it to a constantly variable
transmission (CVT), make it spin out 125 kW and 226 metres of Mr Newton’s best, lob it behind the bluff and upright nose of the 2015 Lancer and there’s your basic mechanical package for the Lancer XLS. There’s the now common Sports mode, with flappy paddles attached to the steering column. It’ll quite happily swallow standard 91RON unleaded and is rated at a slightly high 8.5L consumed per one hundred kilometres travelled from its 59L tank.
The Suit.
The concept car was shown at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2005, with the first models off the production line sold in the U.S. in early 2007. Gone was the laid back nose cone with almost triangular shaped headlights (think the final Magna in Australia), replaced with a squared off, forward leaning, trapezoidal grille design with eagle eye headlights. The cabin remained largely 
unchanged on the exterior side whilst the rear copped a nip and tuck with a “cheek” left for the tail light cluster. There was the addition of the “Sportback” but the delisting of the wagon variant. The XLS comes with a tasteful rear deck lid spoiler, 18 x 7 alloys wrapped in 215/45 rubber. The spare is a space saver.
The chrome surrounded grille is split by a large horizontal beam, at bumper line level, and framed by globe lit driving lights pushed to the bottom of each corner. Oddly, there’s no LED’s…..
On The Inside.
It’s a case of evolution for the Lancer with changes compared to the previous model minor but noticeable. There’s the now standard colour LCD display flanked by the speedo and tacho dials in the dash, keyless start (with a rubber tab on the door handles for access) but a knob where the key might go is still to be turned (!), the now familiar touchscreen 
for audio and navigation in the centre dash, faux leather seating/steering wheel/gear knob, alloy pedals, the hugely simple but effective rotary dials for aircon. There’s a faux leather insert for the doors and the same, uninspiring, barely soft touch plastics on the dash; instruments, though, are housed in a simple and tastefully integrated binnacle. The centre console, framed by the heater buttons for the seats, feels flimsy and the storage locker lid is too low for support. Plastic trim is a combination of dull lustred ripple effect and almost piano black (it’s more a very dark grey) strips from dash through to doors.
The touchscreen system folds up to provide access to a CD slot and SD card access, although, bafflingly, the USB port is, still, in the glove box. Very inconvenient, quite simply. Storage in the rear (377L boot space) is accessed via pushbutton on the tailgate, a lever 
at the bottom right of the electric driver’s seat, the splitfold rear seats or via a button on the keyfob. Normal capacity is 400L however the subwoofer unit for the 9 speaker Rockford Fosgate audio system takes up a chunk. Audio quality itself was quite good but (to be nitpicky) the location of the subwoofer was audibly noticeable, with subs meant to be not audibly locatable. Safety is taken care of via curtain airbags, knee airbag for the driver and Mitsubishi’s energy absorbing chassis construction, plus rear park sensors and camera and ISOFIX child seat mounting points.
On The Road.
The XLS Lancer is not a heavy car at just 1360 kg dry, with a gross mass under 1900 kilos. Peak torque is seen at a high 4100 revs, however the CVT transmission does a decent job of putting power down through the front driven wheels. Loaded with four occupants, it sits nicely in the road but has an odd sensation of the rear feeling a touch more floaty than the front. Steering is light, nicely weighted but doesn’t seem as if it offers a lot of conversation though.
The ride is even, level across most surfaces, even with the low profile rubber; it tracks truly, rarely upset by any road influenced changes. Braking is safely progressive, with enough pressure through the pedal and lack of intrusion from 
the ABS system to provide a user friendly level of confidence.
It’s not hugely rapid under acceleration however will move you along decently, for normal driving; handling through tight corners such as roundabouts does indicate a measure of push on understeer but at no time are you left wondering if the car will go out from underneath. Naturally though, if you go in TOO hard then there’s a good chance of an issue….On a flat road, it’s firm enough, with enough softness to provide a level of comfort befitting its luxury 
orientation.
The CVT is fluid enough; with the change from a rise in revs to a preset point to a programmed feeling of more like a “normal” auto, there’s the sensation of gear change now and, with the Sports Mode, there’s the semi manual option available which is probably best used in a straight line situation. On a downhill run, foot off the go pedal has the CVT “braking” the car and on the flat, there’s a moment’s hesitancy before the transmission feels as if it clunks then drops back a gear.
The Wrap.
The Lancer’s biggest disadvantage is its age; to give a comparison, Kia’s Optima, a bigger car, uses the same capacity engine, at 2.4L. That powerplant provides 148kW and 250 Nm plus quotes 8.0L per 100 km. It uses direct injection, fuel directly into the combustion chamber from the injectors, rather than breathing from a rail into which petrol is injected. Economy overall varied, with stop/start 
traffic pushing the figure well over 10.0L per 100 k’s whilst good freeway runs dropped it to around 7.5L per 100 kms. Therefore, running costs for such a small car aren’t as good as they should be.
Although not unattractive, it’s been left behind by its two main Korean rivals and by its Japanese rivals in styling. Sitting at close to the top of the Lancer tree, to still twist a knob to start although it’s keyless entry and to have a media port in the glovebox rather than in the centre console is also historic.
Ride quality, fit and finish, engine and CVT all work well enough but the overall impression from my driver’s view is that the Lancer is now a generation behind.
For specs and pricing, go here: http://www.mitsubishi-motors.com.au/vehicles/lancer/specifications/sedan.
The Car: Mitsubishi Lancer XLS sedan.
Engine: 2.4L petrol.
Fuel/Tank: 91RON, 59 litres.
Transmission: Constant Variable Transmission with six preprogramed shift points.
Economy: (combined, claimed) 8.5L per 100 kilometres.
Wheels/Tyres: 18 x 7 inch diameter, 215/45 R18.
Weight: 1360 kg unladen.
Dimensions (L x W x H in mm): 4570 x 1760 x 1490.
Wheelbase: 2650 mm.
Cargo: 377 L.
Servicing: 12 months or 15000 kilometres, roadside assist if car serviced under capped price servicing.
Not Just Winter Driving Tips
I was filling in some time at my local car insurance offices recently (honestly, how long does it take for them to press the button that says I want to pay quarterly rather than annually?) and thumbed through a pamphlet on winter driving tips (on display even though it’s summer right now). Now, it’s always good to be prepared for adverse driving conditions, but it struck me as I read this pamphlet that although a lot of the suggestions were specific to winter (e.g. scraping frost off the windscreen before you start driving – a pretty obvious suggestion, I thought), a good chunk of them were pretty good advice for any time of year and any climate, as follows:
- Check your tyre tread depth. Never mind the fact that this is often a condition for getting roadworthiness certification, it’s also plain old safety. Sure, in winter, you’re more likely to hit wet patches on the road that bad tyre tread could skid over, but we’ve had some pretty wet periods over summer, haven’t we? Water-skiing, as far as I am concerned, is best done behind a boat on a quiet lake or harbour, not on the road. ABS and all the other driver assistance thingummies they put in car brakes these days can only do so much.
- Check your tyre pressure. Tyres that aren’t inflated hard enough will skid more easily on dry roads (they also take longer to stop on wet ones). Too much pressure in your tyres also increases the chances of a skid and reduces grip (as well as making the ride bouncier and the tyres more likely to blow at bad moments). Too many of us, myself included, don’t check our tyre pressures often enough, even though we need to get it right – and it will need to vary depending on whether you’re towing a trailer or not. Excuse me a moment while I nip away from the computer to check the tyre pressure in my Volvo…
- Have an emergency kit in your car in case you’re stuck for ages. Their suggestion was to carry snacks, water and something warm to put on. All those who have to Mum’s (or Dad’s) Taxi probably know about this one already, especially if you have children under the age of 10 and/or a diabetic child (who needs to carry emergency food supplies), or who live in a changeable climate that can produce sudden downpours. Just remember to change the water periodically so it doesn’t give you dysentery. I would also add some form of entertainment, preferably of the printed kind that can be read aloud if necessary. If stuck for ages, you can only read the car manual so many times and manuals are useless for entertaining small children unless you rip the pages out and fold them into darts.
- Check the level of your windscreen wiper fluid. Again, excellent advice, especially if you’ve ever been splattered by effluent from a cattle truck, which can happen at any time of year on a rural road. The pamphlet also suggested carrying extra water to top up the wiper fluid just in case. Don’t forget that plain water can be used as drinking water and to top up the radiator as well as the wiper fluid.
- Carry a cloth for wiping condensation off the windows. This can strike at night or on a cold day in summer if people are sitting in the car with the windows up for ages. The pamphlet recommended a microfibre cloth that cleans the inside of the windscreen at the same time as it removes the condensation, but anything soft and absorbent will do – even your sleeves.
Safe and happy driving, no matter what time of year it is,
Megan
Level 2, 9 Help Street